Day Off
by Sara60691
Summary: What would Jo do on her first day off after the incident in "Omega Girls"? Here's my take.


A/N: ok, so this story was bouncing around in my head for a while. I must warn you, since i'm better at writing Zane's POV this story is a little...off because it's from Jo's POV. She's more like an immature teenager so don't be surprised that she's so laid back. ok, yeah, btw, don't own Eureka, ya know, the usual disclaimer.

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><p>I woke up to the sun warming my skin and a smile on my face. It had been too long since I had a day off that I could actually enjoy. I knew it was late. I probably should have gotten up an hour or two ago but I couldn't bring myself to care. I didn't have to go into work and do paperwork on the latest disaster, I didn't have to work out today because it was a rest day (didn't want to over work my muscles and injure myself), and best of all, I hadn't been woken up at a God awful hour by Carter or anyone because of a disaster. Life was good, especially since Zoe knew what was going on and she wasn't mad at me anymore. Don't get me wrong, we still had some issues to work out (mainly that we didn't tell her sooner) but she was over the whole "Zane" thing now. Of course, the memory of our reconciliation was…well, interesting. She had run up to me as I was leaving GD and had practically bowled me over with a hug. I closed my eyes again, smiling at the memory.<p>

"_Jo, oh my god I'm _so_ sorry!" she had practically yelled in my ear. _

"_Zoe, what are you talking about? If anything I should still be asking for your forgiveness," I asked, confused. _

"_My dad told me about your trip and if I had known I would _never_ have even thought of Zane like that. My god Jo I'm so sorry for trying to poach your guy!" she told me, holding me at arm's length staring at me with wide eyes. It had been a long day (I had gotten shot, had purposely set off GD system lock out, and had shot Allison) so it took a minute for me to process. _

"_Zoe, he wasn't "my guy" we had never happened here and I thought I could let him go. I'm sorry that I started something after you had told me you liked him," I had told the young woman. Her worried expression broke into that signature Carter smile and she stepped back, crossing her arms. _

"_Well, how about we split a double chocolate fudge brownie a la mode with extra sprinkles and whipped cream and call it even? I'm still angry at you guys for not telling me about all this sooner," she said. Oh god that was going to be hell on my diet…all those carbs, sugars and fats that weren't good for any person. Trust Zoe to come up with a revenge that included sugary treats. _

"_Fine, you have a deal," I sighed, and we both grinned at each other, heading for Café Diem. _

It felt good to be on good terms with Zoe again, and even better, I had finally settled things with Zane too, choosing to remain in the "friends" zone. I didn't feel the need to totally cut him out of my life anymore (which honestly was too hard to deal with) and it seems like my sexual frustrations were lessening now that I could just identify him as a friend instead of trying to muddle through all the confusing thoughts of "he was mine, now he's not, so what are we?" Honestly, I don't know why I made it so complicated to begin with. That was something only girly girls really did, trying to analyze everything and make it out to what they wanted or didn't want. I wasn't like that. I preferred simple and clean cut.

So, me being in an absolutely blissful mood, I was going to spend my day off like I did when I was a teenager and had the house to myself. S.A.R.A.H. was offline for maintenance to make sure Beverly didn't screw with her systems, Carter was at work, and Zoe was spending the whole weekend at Pilar's. I literally had the house to myself. So today I wasn't going to be the uptight head of GD security. No, I was going to wander around in my underwear, watch TV and eat cookie dough.

First thing for today, using all the hot water in a nice steamy shower before putting on my favorite set of lingerie and wandering down into the kitchen, feeling all kinds of happy and sexy. Sometimes a girl just has to do something to feel good for herself instead of trying to look good for someone else. Continuing with my idyllic morning, I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip waffles (the cookie dough was for later) and drowned them in maple syrup. Today I wasn't going to eat anything remotely healthy (unless it tasted sugary, like grapes). I swear the waffles tasted better because I knew I shouldn't be eating them.

Throughout the day everything I did was just so relaxing (and I really did feel like a teenager again, wandering around the house in my underwear). I got my cookie dough and I didn't have to share it or cook it. I watched TV until I got bored, which was a few good hours. Now, in the late afternoon, I was blasting the stereo, listening to Cascada. I loved this band so much, it was my own guilty pleasure when I could just sing along to my favorite songs. I had already sung _Every Time We Touch_ at the top of my lungs and now I was in the middle of _Bad Boy_ as I stupidly danced and twirled back into the living room with a snack in hand.

"_Be my Bad Boy be my man! Be my weekend lover but don't be my friend! You can be my bad boy but under-stand, I don't need you in my life again!_" I was grinning as I was singing, the song reminding me of Zane. Of course, as I was spinning around I registered that there was a dark shape on the couch that shouldn't be there. A dark, _person_ shaped form that shouldn't be there. Stopping my singing and silly dancing, and I slowly turned to face the couch. Zane was sitting there, grinning like the devil.

"Hey Jojo, why'd you stop? I was enjoying the show," he said by way of greeting.

"Zane, what are you doing here?" I asked, trying to remain calm and not think about the fact that I was practically naked.

"Oh, I just dropped in to see if S.A.R.A.H. was back online and to see how your day off was going. I see you're enjoying it," he commented.

"S.A.R.A.H. is still offline and as for my day off, you just ruined it," I grumbled, crossing my arms over my stomach in a poor attempt to feel less bare. He ignored my jibe and got off the couch, pausing at the stereo to shut off my music, before moving to stand right in front of me.

"Sorry I ruined your day Jojo. Maybe I can make it up to you?" he murmured, leaning close. I could feel his warm breath brushing my skin and I had the urge to just close my eyes and lean into him. Just as I was about to give in to my impulse I remembered we were just friends, which is where I wanted us to be. We were _not_ going to go back to that complicated…whatever it was, we had before.

"Zane," I growled voice low and warning. He laughed slightly, although it sounded hollow and forced.

"Yeah, I remember Jo. Just friends," he sighed but not moving away. Instead he rested his hands on my bare arms, running them up and down from shoulder to elbow for a minute.

"What the hell Zane-" I started to demand what the hell he was doing.

"You have Goosebumps Jojo. Honestly, aren't you cold wearing so…little?" he interrupted, obviously choosing his words carefully. Of course the glazed over, heated look in his eyes gave away exactly what he was thinking.

"Not really, now I suggest you go home Donovan," I muttered. Honestly, he was still a pain in my ass, although he was better than when I first met him. His teasing smile turned into a frown and he leaned back to look at my face. I'd swear he was pouting, but I had seen him pout before, and this expression was definitely a frown which meant he was being serious.

"You know Lupo, trying to be just friends with you sucks," he sighed, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

"Too bad Zane. I tried just ignoring you and that obviously didn't work," we both smirked at that. Zane was impossible to ignore, "I tried getting you out of my system and that was just disastrous for all involved. Being friends just works out better…for both of us," I explained.

"What about being together? You ever think about how easy that might be?" he asked, his signature smirk spreading across his face.

"You know that wouldn't work out well," I sighed, stepping away from him. I shivered slightly from the chill in the room, Zane's body heat no longer keeping me warm. He was frowning again.

"You are one difficult woman Lupo. Honestly, avoiding me definitely doesn't work…for either or us. You stopped sleeping with me because it was hurting Zoe even though we weren't together, she's _way_ too young for me. Now being friends, while it may be fine for you, doesn't work for me," he grumbled, starting to pace. Wow, he must be really agitated if he couldn't stand still.

"And why wouldn't being friends work in your favor? You already slept with me. Time for you to move on to the next girl like you're so apt to do," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. It still hurt sometimes, thinking Zane had never changed from being a horn dog to being the sweet (albeit still pain in my ass) guy I knew, but that's just who he was here. Of course something in his immediate glare in reaction to my words was telling me I was wrong. Zane didn't get angry often, but when he did, especially in this timeline, it was dangerous and enough to put me on edge.

"Lupo, don't you ever even _insinuate_ that for one minute what we had going was me just getting off," he growled, stepping toward me with each word. Oh wow, angry Zane, although a little scary, was somewhat sexier than he normally was. But damn it if his words didn't leave me confused.

"Huh?" was the only brilliant reply I could utter.

"Jo, you've been driving me crazy from day one and ever since you…changed, it's just been worse. When you kissed me after the whole incident with your house," he paused to smirk at me, "Well damn, it was a freaking fantasy come true for me…well, minus burning your new house down and everything, but still. Jo freaking Lupo, hottest woman alive, jumping into bed with me," he sighed, wrapping his arms back around me and stepping close so that I was pressed against his chest. He tilted his head down so that our foreheads were pressed together and he had a little smile on his face and a heated look in his eyes probably remembering all those times we slept together.

"I didn't _jump _into bed with you," I mumble, looking away from those blue, blue eyes that are just a tad too intense at the moment.

"Use whatever term you want Jojo, we still had sex…mind blowing, incredibly amazing sex," he says with that signature smirk of his. I'm not sure if I want to smack him or drag him up to my room when he has that look on his face. Apparently the choice was out of my hands though because at that moment, when I was still trying to bring myself to push him away, his lips crashed down onto mine and that was it. It was just so hard to keep him at arm's length, to not cross the line and remain friends. It was a blur as we fumbled upstairs and stumbled into my room, falling into bed together.

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><p>Hours later I woke up, again with a smile on my face. Zane was still sleeping next to me, his arm thrown lazily across my waist. I don't know why but every time the damned man kisses me I just melt and we always seem to end up exactly where we are now. Maybe he was right, we really weren't good at just being friends. Zoe had already told me that I should just get over our fight because technically Zane and she had never dated (of course, she had also said that if I didn't take him back he'd have that "kicked puppy" expression on his face for eternity). Zane…well, Zane already made his point <em>very<em> clear. He didn't want to be just friends. He had told me last night that he couldn't stand it and that if I didn't wear his "grandmother's damned ring" then he was going to tell the whole town we were engaged, ring or not (obviously his words, not mine). So here I was, lying in bed with me…with Zane, staring at the ring on my finger (who knew he carried around with him like that?). _Best day off ever_ I thought to myself stretching out across my bed and settling more comfortably next to my _fiancé_. Yeah, the day hadn't really gone the way I wanted it to, but sometimes the unexpected is better than what you planned.


End file.
